Five minutes with… 50/50 comics

Jim O’Connor owner of 50/50 Comics tells us having the freedom to learn and grow without restrictions helped him to ‘stay classy’ when setting up his digital comic business.

I was inspired to start my business by …

The way in which I found myself accessing digital content. I would often find myself traveling or waiting with nothing but my phone for entertainment, and since I love comic-books, I would use online resources to buy and read online.

However, with most suppliers only providing a few sample pages it was hard for me to see whether or not the comic-books available were something I would be interested in. On top of that, I found that the price was usually around the same as a print copy, even though it wasn’t a tangible item that I can collect or resell.

When I began to write my digital comic I decided to create my own website, where I could price my comic-books at an amount that is both fair to the reader and myself. Also I chose to offer 50% of each digital comic-book for free, so the readers can get an idea of whether it’s something they actually enjoy, before they commit to purchasing it.

My favourite thing about running my business is …

Getting to do what I love every day, having the freedom to learn and grow without restrictions and, of course, the great feeling I get when someone tells me how much they enjoyed reading my comic.

The three words that best describe my business are …

Considerate, Webcomic, resource.

Sheffield City Region is a great place to start a business because …

The potential to network within Sheffield is excellent – the ease of which you can find likeminded and supportive individuals makes for a strong foundation on which to build.

Sheffield City Region is a great place to grow a business because …

The people. I’ve been to a lot of other cities and there’s none other like it.

The people of Sheffield have a great sense of community.

The best advice I ever got was …

“Always be yourself. if you try to imitate others, at best, you will be a good copy.” I find myself thinking of this advice often.

The worst advice I ever got was …

“Any publicity is good publicity.” It isn’t – stay classy!

The organisations that have supported me and my business include …

This magazine for one! Also other online creators such as the YouTube channel Geekery with Dante D, who has helped to promote my work through both actual support on the channel and the use of my artwork for the channel’s online presence.

The main challenges facing my industry/sector are …

Creating comic books is a highly competitive market, with most readers only showing interest in the works done by the big three publishing companies (Marvel, DC and Image). With these companies having increasingly large amounts of film-based adaptations, the works of independent artist can often be overlooked.In 5 years’ time I expect my business to …

Honestly, I have no expectations. I do however, have hopes.

I hope that my comic and website will have gained enough of a following that it can financially support other artists as well as myself, allowing for a broad selection of titles to be added to our library, so that my customers will have a variety of high-quality affordable comic-books available to download at home or on the go.